Euro 2012: Portugal star Cristiano Ronaldo on revenge mission

I had a good season but I’m missing the Champions League, so maybe you cannot say it was the very best year. So the Euros are still where I have hopes of doing something special with Portugal

Cristiano Ronaldo

And the Portugal star has warned Germany not to underestimate his side today.

Ronaldo had an outstanding season for Real Madrid, scoring an incredible 60 times as he matched Lionel Messi goal for goal and helped his team finish above Barcelona to win La Liga. But there is still a nagging frustration that he couldn’t complete a dream season by winning the Champions League, after being beaten in the semi finals by Bayern Munich.

So now he has a perfect opportunity for revenge against the Germans.

He said: “I had a good season but I’m missing the Champions League, so maybe you cannot say it was the very best year. So the Euros are still where I have hopes of doing something special with Portugal.

“Maybe people think we can’t win but for me, Portugal are one of the biggest teams in Europe and have a great history.

“Portugal have a good team with players who play in the best clubs in the world. Now all we need is to play as a team and to hope this time we get some luck.

“Can we fight for the title? I don’t know, it depends on many factors. But why not?

“The problem has been that at the moment of truth, we have not taken our chances in the Euros or in World Cups in the past, although we came close in 2004 when we were at home.

“But it’s still my dream to win a trophy with my country, so let’s see if this time we can do something good.”

The problem for Portugal is that they have been placed in a Group of Death with Germany, Holland and Denmark – and just getting to the next round would be a real achievement.

“We need to start well,” said Ronaldo.

“Everybody knows Germany is one of the big favourites. Starting against them is a huge risk but we must accept this challenge without fear.”

But Arsenal’s Per Mertesacker says Germany have finally found the consistency to turn a string of last-four finishes into a tournament victory.

The Germans reached the semi-finals of the 2010 World Cup, the final of Euro 2008 and the semi-finals of the 2006 World Cup in their own country.

Now defender Mertesacker says they are ready to do better.

He said: “We have had many chances in the last three big tournaments and if you get that far, it’s better to get the title.

“It won’t be easy because we have a tough group, but we are excited about that. We are ready. We know we have to be ready from the first moment.

“We will try to be sharp from the first kick against Portugal. You cannot lose a match like this – if you do, you are nearly out.”

Germany, who trounced England in South Africa, have built on their success since then and reached the finals in Ukraine and Poland by winning every one of their qualifying games.

Mertesacker added: “Some players in my age group have more than 80 games and that is good experience.”